Rosa Sandoval once took a bus to Light of the World Clinic with a headache, fever and no health insurance. There, Venezuelan cardiologist Erwin Vasquez told her she suffered separation trauma from the two children she left behind in El Salvador. He got her the treatment she needed for free.

That was in 1994. Since then, Vasquez has served thousands of immigrants and poor Broward residents like Sandoval at the nonprofit clinic. Vasquez volunteered more than 500 hours at the clinic last year alone, and was named Volunteer of the Year by the Broward County Health Department.

"He's a good man and doesn't discriminate," said Sandoval, who works as a baby sitter and volunteers to help clean the clinic. "He saw that I was going crazy and he got me out of my nervous crisis."

Vasquez opened the clinic in 1990 when he saw how cultural barriers and lack of access to healthcare stopped immigrants from seeking the care they needed, he said. Public funding was not available, so Vasquez relies mostly on private donations and grants to keep the place going. About 75 patients visit the clinic each week for ultrasounds, gynecology, dermatology and other medical services.

Vasquez spends his Saturdays treating the clinic's patients. Other times he knocks on doors looking for doctors willing to do procedures the clinic can't. Last year, more than 200 people donated time and services to the clinic. But it's frustrating to know the healthcare problem persists despite their efforts, he said.

"It's very painful," said Vasquez, 63, of Fort Lauderdale. "There is a certain degree of injustice. Everyone should be aware that there are people who have been left out."

Vasquez and the multi-lingual volunteers know how to make immigrants feel at ease, said Teresita Carvajal, a Costa Rican patient and volunteer. Vasquez understands the shock many go through when they arrive in the United States and the impact it has on their well-being, she said. Carvajal credits Vasquez for helping her overcome the depression and anxiety that overwhelmed her when she made the move.

"When you get to the United States your spirits are on the floor," said Carvajal, of Weston. "He cured me not only physically, but mentally too."

Alexia Campbell can be reached at apcampbell@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4513.

Alejandrina Cruz, 73, has been coming to the Light of the World clinic once every two weeks, ever since she had open heart surgery two months ago. And for the most part she feels fine now, she said, thanks to the staff at a small clinic on East Prospect Road in Oakland Park.

There they can monitor the levels of blood thinner in her system, check vital signs, make sure she is stable, and write needed prescriptions. And the cost to Cruz is minimal. In fact, she pays only a few dollars in lab fees, she said.

Cruz is just one of the 12,000 patients the staff, who are a mix of paid employees and volunteers, treat each year. But like the others, Cruz had to qualify.

"We're not a walk-in facility," said clinic director Sandy Lozano.

For the staff at Light of World to treat a patient, they must be at 200 percent of the poverty level, meaning patients must make $21,500 or less annually. A family of two must make $29,136 or less. Patients must also show proof of residency in Broward Countyand have no health insurance at all.

The clinic is the creation of Chief Executive Erwin Vasquez, the Venezuela-born cardiologist who founded it in 1989. Even then, he saw the overwhelming need for help.

"[I saw] the difficulties people have getting access to medical care," Vasquez said. "In the Bible Jesus said, 'What you do for the least of my brethren you do also for me.' That's the philosophy I carry into the practice of medicine."

Vasquez has also been able to draw up to $180,000 per year in grant money for the spotless little clinic, with its gleaming appliances that take up 2,000 square feet of this strip development.

The clinic was awarded a grant last month of $100,000 from Blue Cross Blue Shield.

"We'll use part of it to make ourselves better known," Lozano said. "Our only advertising so far is word of mouth. And [to] hire more staff, so we can offer continuity of treatment."

David Rabinowitz is a second-year medical student, and one of the 200 volunteers that donate their time at the clinic.

"This place is great, from a student's perspective," he said. "So many places won't let students interact with patients, but they allow me to participate."

Lynne Palma is a nurse practitioner, one of the four salaried employees at the clinic. She hopes that some of the new grant money will go toward education and prevention, since often people with no health coverage wait until there's an emergency, she said.

"We spend a lot of time with people, teaching them about diet and exercise," Palma said.

Lozano said many patients know that once they're qualified they can come to the clinic for a variety of treatments, from a biopsy to diabetic education.

"We're not a hospital, and sometimes we have to work the phones to find specialists who will donate their services," she said.

But for Vasquez, he knows his work has not concluded.

"There are many families needing access," he said. "It's a project that never ends."

For information about the Light of the World clinic call 954-563-9876 or go to 806 E. Prospect Road.

Oakland Park free clinic gets big grant

OAKLAND PARK - Oakland Park's small but busy Light of the World clinic for moderate-income, uninsured people is receiving its biggest boost ever: A $100,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The grant being awarded Wednesday will help the free clinic add about 2,000 patients to the 12,000 yearly who get treated there, said Elaine Vasquez, clinic board secretary and wife of Chief Executive Erwin Vasquez, a cardiologist who founded the center in 1989.

Also known as Clinica Luz Del Mundo, the center uses volunteer doctors and staffers to treat uninsured people who do not or cannot use publicly funded clinics in Broward County , she said. Patients with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level -- or $44,100 for a family of four -- qualify for free care, and those with higher incomes can also qualify.

For more information, call the clinic at 954-563-9876, visit flafreeclinic.org/ClinicPage.asp or go to 806 E. Prospect Rd.

Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida

Florida's Uninsured and Underinsured to Benefit from Statewide Grants

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Blue Foundation for a
Healthy Florida, the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield
of Florida (BCBSF), has approved $761,000 in grants to be awarded this
winter to 11 nonprofit Florida organizations providing health-related services to in-need Floridians.
"Around 20 percent of Florida residents are uninsured," said Susan
Towler, executive director of The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida.
"That's more than 3.8 million people who may forgo important medical care
if they don't have access to free and low-cost services. The Blue
Foundation for a Healthy Florida is proud to support organizations working
to help Floridians who do not have access to traditional health care options."
Recipients, grant totals and program areas funded are:
-- Alert Health, Inc. (formerly Hep-C Alert, Inc.) -- $100,000 -- linkage
coordinator, lab counselor, cholesterol and glucose tests to support
preventative health screenings in North Miami.
-- Clinica Luz Del Mundo (Light of the World Clinic) -- $100,000 -- case
manager/community outreach coordinator, medical assistant, supplies and
lab fees to increase patient capacity in a free medical clinic in
Broward County.
-- Lakeland Volunteers In Medicine -- $44,877 -- women's health
services for uninsured women of Polk County.
-- Manatee County Rural Health Services, Inc. -- $97,250 -- registered
dietician and health educator to help patients from Manatee, Desoto and
a portion of Sarasota counties manage their diabetes.
-- Marion County Children's Advocacy Center, Inc. -- $80,960 --
therapist and child advocate supporting child abuse victims in Marion
County.
-- Miami Beach Community Health Center, Inc. -- $100,000 -- physician and
clinician to provide primary healthcare to uninsured and underinsured
South Florida residents.
-- Orange County Health Department -- $100,000 -- oral health services for
uninsured African-American women of Orange County who are either
pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
-- Refuge House, Inc. -- $10,000 -- health and outreach services for more
victims of domestic and sexual violence in the Big Bend area via a
clinic expansion.
-- Safehouse of Seminole, Inc. -- $10,500 -- prescription and
over-the-counter medications, emergency room visits, first aid and
hygiene supplies for domestic violence victims in Seminole County.
-- Vision is Priceless Council. -- $57,413 -- increased eye examinations
and treatment for in-need residents of Clay and Nassau counties.
-- The Volunteers In Medicine Clinic -- $60,000 -- bilingual diabetes
educator, nurse practitioner and bilingual educational materials for
Martin County patients.
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida awards grants during two
grant cycles per year. With the completion of the 2008 winter grant cycle,
The Blue Foundation will have presented 200 grants and 25 awards totaling
more than $13 million since its founding in 2001.
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida is a separate, philanthropic
affiliate of BCBSF incorporated in the state of Florida. The Blue
Foundation for a Healthy Florida, and its parent, BCBSF, are independent
licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of
independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information on
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, please visit its Web site at
http://www.bluefoundationfl.com.